“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice.” – Paul Aster As we enter into another week of social distancing, I can’t help but be grateful for the millions of stories that I can escape into at a moment’s notice. Reading has always been my escape from the world, and […]

Many years ago when I graduated to more young adult-and adult books, I was incredibly interested in the thoughts and perspectives of the characters. I wanted to know why they made the decisions they did and what drove them. Those questions have driven me through many a biography and it’s why I have a particular […]

With the resurgence of the romantic comedy genre and the release of the sequel of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix later this month, I thought it might be fun to lean into the explosion of pink and red this year rather than fight against it. To that end, I’ve rounded a […]

As you know, January marks not just the beginning of a new year, but also a new decade. Instead of starting the year off by looking forward, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the wonderful books of the decade. This decade marked the beginning of me keeping spreadsheets to […]

As the year wraps up and there are gifts to be wrapped, I thought it would be fun to continue the tradition started last year to share a few of my favorite books of the year. These were books published in 2019 and several have made it into my giving list. I hope that there […]

In conjunction with the release of Give KC within the November 9th issue, and giving season right around the corner, I wanted to focus on a few books that tell the stories of inspiring people. Reading can give us a glimpse into the stories behind the people that we admire. It can allow us to […]

With the release of the Downton Abbey movie, historical fiction has been at the forefront of mainstream media. With the beautiful costumes and historical research taking center stage, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite historical fiction novels set across the ages and across the globe. A Gentleman in […]

In this busy back to school season, I love both being able to finish a book in one sitting and learn something new. Short novels are fascinating to me because an author accomplishes so much in so few pages. I also find it mind expanding to read books from other countries because I believe that […]

“Contact light.” – Buzz Aldrin Although we remember the immortal line, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” from Neil Armstrong as he stepped onto the lunar surface, the above quote by Buzz Aldrin contains the actual first words spoken from the Moon when Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969. […]